PA Online Sports Betting Revenue Erupts Behind SugarHouse In July 2019

Brian Sausa, Last Updated: September 13th, 2024 - PA Online Sports Betting | Free $2,000 For Betting In Pennsylvania

Online sports betting in Pennsylvania may still be in its infancy, but it’s showing signs of growing up quickly.

According to the July 2019 revenue report from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the new fiscal year was met with huge figures in the Keystone State as it celebrated just its second full month on the sports gambling market. Here are the four PA online casinos contributing to handle and revenue in July:

• SugarHouse Sportsbook Online
• BetRivers Online Sportsbook
• Parx Online Sportsbook
• Valley Forge Online Sportsbook

SugarHouse was the only site to be live for the entire month of June, and the numbers were still impressive at over $19 million in handle and almost $1.5 million in revenue. Following a late-May launch from SugarHouse Sportsbook to kick things off, two more operators joined the fold in June and can finally be looked at with a full month’s worth of gambling to draw numbers from. FanDuel Sportsbook joined the fray most recently in July as Valley Forge launched the fourth online sports gambling site in PA.

In July, the industry doubled its output from the previous month, pulling in almost $39 million in wagers and nearing $2.9 million in revenue production. These results show that the public was starved for sports wagering action and that the business can still be economically prosperous for operators, even if the tax rate cuts into profits.

Below we’ll take a look at how the impressive early production in Pennsylvania is being spearheaded by one site in particular but is now receiving some help.

SugarHouse Leads The Way As PA Online Sports Betting Erupts

The explosion in bets taken and total earnings from mobile sports gambling in July stems from multiple factors, the first being a seamless expansion into the state from SugarHouse Sportsbook.

Since the launch of sports gambling in the Garden State during the summer of 2018, SugarHouse has remained one of the best sports betting sites in NJ. Considering its brand-name recognition, top-shelf amenities including a wide variety of betting markets and the fact that it pioneered as the first PA online sports betting operator in the state, SugarHouse has plenty going for it so far.

The below chart details earnings from Sugarhouse in its first two full months since launch:

When comparing July’s numbers to June, we can see that SugarHouse took in about $4 million more in bets than it had the previous month, and crossed over the $1.5 million threshold for monthly revenue. Out of the nearly $60 million in wagers that the industry has seen, over $40 million of that has come from one place. In a short span of time, SugarHouse has established itself as the best of the bunch when it comes to PA sportsbooks.

BetRivers, Parx And Valley Forge Add to PA Online Sports Betting Revenue

While one site continues to cement itself as the clear industry leader in Pennsylvania, three other sportsbooks account for over $15 million in sports bets during July.

BetRivers, a sister site of SugarHouse also run by Rush Street Interactive, posted huge numbers in its first full month of operation. Going by July 2019 PGCB figures, Rivers managed nearly $10 million in wagers and crept near $800,000 in revenue. Why this is notable is because it puts Rivers far above the rest of the supporting cast and firmly in the second-place spot.

Parx Online Sportsbook and Valley Forge Online put up nearly identical numbers at $3.65 million and $3.36 million, respectively. It appears Valley Forge, in conjunction with the FanDuel Sportsbook app, will be soaring to new heights, however, given the fact that it nearly matched Parx despite fewer weeks on the market.

Online NFL Betting To Help Increase Sports Gambling Revenue In PA

With the 2019 NFL schedule looming, this massive increase in PA online sports betting handle and revenue during the summer could be a sign of things to come.

It’s a well-known fact that the National Football League is the most popular sports body in the United States to watch and wager on and professional football season is the busiest time of year for many sports betting sites. This time last year, New Jersey was able to pull in football fans from not only its own area but from Pennsylvania and New York due to sports gambling laws.

The Keystone State will likely be unable to match the massive production in New Jersey, which raked in nearly $14 million in revenue in July thanks to a beneficial 12 percent tax rate. At 34 percent in Pennsylvania, more money is made for the state but operators will naturally produce less revenue.

Still, the state is proving itself to be a lucrative breeding ground for sports betting just in time for the NFL season. And this time around, Pennsylvania has a ticket to ride the professional football money-making train as it moves through the rest of the year and into 2020.

ABOUT Brian Sausa

Brian Sausa is BonusSeeker’s Copy Editor and lead sports betting pundit. A journalism graduate with an extensive sports background, Brian has been employed by multiple professional leagues including MLB, MiLB (Minor League Baseball), and the NHL. MLB, NHL, IBTimes, Brooklyn Cyclones, FanSided